Expensed $13,476 in petty cash, hotels, travel after electoral defeat

The campaign committee of former Rep. Corrine Brown (D., Fla.), who is currently on trial for corruption charges, spent thousands on hotels and small travel expenses after Brown was defeated in the Democratic primary last year.

Brown, who lost to former Florida State Sen. Al Lawson in the August 2016 primary, spent$11,278 on "lodging" at a Marriot Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland in late September 2016, nearly one month after the election.

In addition to the hotel expenditures, the campaign disclosed three "petty cash" transactions totaling more than $2,000 during the two-week span between October 16 and November 4.

Wiley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in March 2016. Simmons pleaded guilty to fraud in February.

An FBI agent testified Wednesday against Brown, saying the money was taken from her foundation and put into a bank account shared by Brown and her daughter.

Last year, the Washington Free Beacon obtained records from the Corrine Brown Legal Expense Trust, finding that Brown had accepted contributions from lobbyists, which is prohibited by House ethics rules.

One of the lobbyists, Michael Korens, provided the Free Beacon with an email from Simmons when asked who solicited the contribution. The email contained a flyer for a fundraising event at Johnny's Half Shell, a now-closed seafood restaurant located on Capitol Hill.

Korens said he was unaware that members of Congress could not accept contributions from lobbyists to cover their legal expenses, and said he called the House ethics committee to self-report the potential violation.

The lobbyists who provided the contributions did not violate House ethics rules. However, legal defense funds are prohibited from accepting such donations, according to House ethics rules.

Brown again solicited donations to her legal defense fund in September, claiming the criminal charges against her were brought due to her efforts to fight racism.

A Brown spokesman previously said he did not know if the fund was approved by the ethics committee to be used on her criminal charges.

Tom Rust, chief counsel of the ethics committee, did not respond to Free Beacon inquiries about whether the fund was approved. Brown could not be reached for comment.

Joe SchoffstallEmail Joe | Full Bio | RSSJoe Schoffstall is a staff writer for the Washington Free Beacon. Previously, he spent three years with the Media Research Center and was most recently with the Capitol City Project. He can be reached at Schoffstall@freebeacon.com. His Twitter handle is @JoeSchoffstall.